Global Developments and Analysis: Weekly Monitor, 09 August - 15 August 2021

Economic

Big Tech rolls on as investors shrug off regulatory pressure

Pressure is rising for Big Tech firms, signalling tougher regulation in Washington and elsewhere that could lead to the breakup of the largest platforms. But you'd hardly know by looking at their share prices. All four have hit market valuations of above $1 trillion, with Apple over $2 trillion. The Biden administration has given signs of more aggressive regulation with appointments of Big Tech critics at the Federal Trade Commission. But that has failed to dent the momentum of the largest tech firms, despite tough talk and antitrust litigation in the US and Europe, with US lawmakers eyeing moves to make antitrust enforcement easier. Big Tech critics in the US and the EU want Apple and Google to loosen the grip of their online app marketplaces; more competition in a digital advertising market dominated by Google and Facebook; and better access to Amazon's e-commerce platform by third-party sellers."Breakup is going to be nearly impossible," said analyst Daniel Newman at Futurum Research, citing the need for controversial legislative changes to antitrust laws.
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Biden's $1tn infrastructure bill wins Senate approval

With a robust vote after weeks of fits and starts, the Senate approved a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan on Aug 10, a rare coalition of Democrats and Republicans joining to overcome sceptics and deliver a cornerstone of President Joe Biden's agenda. The 69-30 tally provides momentum for this first phase of Biden's "Build Back Better" priorities, now headed to the House. A sizable number of lawmakers showed they were willing to set aside partisan pressures, eager to send billions to their states for rebuilding roads, broadband internet, water pipes and the public works systems that underpin much of American life. Infrastructure was once a mainstay of lawmaking, but the weeks-long slog to strike a compromise showed how hard it has become for Congress to tackle routine legislating, even on shared priorities. The outline for Biden's bigger $3.5 trillion package is next up for the Senate - a more liberal undertaking of child care, elder care and other programs that are much more partisan and expected to draw only Democratic support. That debate is expected to extend into the fall.
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China not Southeast Asia’s top investor, but fears over its economic influence persist: study

A study by researchers in Australia has found inconclusive evidence that China has undue economic influence over Southeast Asian countries, because it is not the region’s dominant investor despite widespread perceptions that it is. The EU bloc, Japan and the US have remained Southeast Asia’s three largest investors over much of the past two decades, according to the report published by the Australia National University (ANU), titled Chinese Investment in Southeast Asia from 2005 to 2019. Between 2005 and 2018, the EU ranked as Southeast Asia’s top investor in 10 of those years, with the US taking the top spot thrice and Japan once, said research authors Evelyn Goh and Nan Liu from the university’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. China made it into the top third just twice over that period. In 2012, Chinese investments stood at US$7.9 billion, behind Japan’s US$14.8 billion and the United States’ US$18.9 billion. In 2018, Beijing invested US$9.9 billion, less than Japan’s US$20.9 billion and the EU’s US$21.6 billion.

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China-Russia east route natural gas pipeline delivers 10 billion cubic meters of gas

The China-Russia east route natural gas pipeline project has delivered a total of 10 billion cubic meters of imported Russian gas as of Aug 11, since gas imports started in December 2019, customs data showed. The pipeline is scheduled to provide China with 10 billion cubic meters of Russian gas in 2021 and the amount is expected to increase to 38 billion cubic meters annually from 2024, according to the 30-year, $400 billion contract signed by Russian gas giant Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp in 2014. Russian natural gas has been used in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Beijing and Tianjin. The pipeline system is the largest long-distance intelligent natural gas transmission system in China, according to the Harbin customs in Heilongjiang. The full China-Russia east route is a pipeline system spanning more than 8,000 kilometers. It transmits natural gas from Siberia to nine provincial-level regions in China.
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China accounts for 51% of new global shipbuilding orders in H1

China's new shipbuilding orders accounted for more than half of the global share in the first half of the year due to growing demand for container ships amid COVID-19, CCTV reported on Aug 11. According to data released by China Association of the National Shipbuilding, China's completed orders grew by 19 percent year-on-year in the first half, with rise in high-end ship orders. China's new ship orders accounted for 51 percent of the global share with the average monthly orders reaching 6.37 million dwt 1.8 times that of shipbuilding completed in the same period. Chen Jun, General Manager of Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co said they have entered peak season over June and July and delivered several large LNG ships and large container ships which are low-carbon and environmentally friendly. "The green, environmental protection, low carbon design concept has not only made Chinese ships meet the most stringent emission requirements, but also gives Chinese ships strong market adaptability and market prospects," he said.
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China to fund Myanmar projects in agreement with junta

China will transfer over $6 million to Myanmar’s government to fund 21 development projects, Myanmar’s foreign ministry said, in a sign of cooperation resuming under the junta that overthrew an elected government on Feb. 1. Unlike Western countries that have condemned the junta for cutting short democracy and the killing and imprisonment of its opponents, China has taken a softer line and said its priorities are stability and not interfering in its neighbour. A foreign ministry statement said the funds were to be transferred from China for projects within the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation framework. It said those included animal vaccines, culture, agriculture, science, and tourism and disaster prevention. An agreement was signed on Aug 09 with China’s ambassador to Myanmar, the statement said. The Chinese embassy’s Facebook page confirmed the signing. Opponents of Myanmar’s junta have accused China of supporting the military takeover, in which elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted and detained. Beijing has rejected such accusations and said it backs regional diplomacy on the crisis. $50 million aid was announced by Washington on Aug 10 to support relief groups in Myanmar dealing with the fallout from a surge in COVID-19 infections.
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IEA sees COVID blow to oil demand in 2021, surplus in 2022

The outlook for global oil markets darkened on Aug 12 after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that slowing demand for crude in the wake of restrictions imposed to curb the fast-spreading Delta variant is colliding with a recent increase in global crude production. But the news is likely to be welcomed by the White House, which on Aug 12 prodded the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to open the oil taps further, which would help lower petrol prices in the United States during the height of the summer driving season. The IEA’s latest oil market report said that global oil demand “abruptly reversed course in July and the outlook for the remainder of 2021 has been downgraded due to the worsening progression of the [coronavirus] pandemic and revisions to historical data”. Restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus’s Delta variant in China, the world’s largest importer of oil, as well as other parts of Asia are chipping away what had been a renewed appetite for crude this year. The IEA now sees global oil demand rising by 5.3 million barrels per day (bpd) on average to 96.2 million bpd this year and by a further 3.2 million bpd in 2022.
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Aramco talks with Reliance Industries at critical stage

Bloomberg reported Saudi Aramco is to acquire a stake of about 20 percent in Reliance Industries' oil refining and chemicals business. Talks between Saudi Aramco and India’s Reliance Industries have hit a critical stage with a deal anticipated shortly. Saudi Aramco is to acquire a stake of about 20 percent in Reliance Industries' oil refining and chemicals business for around $20 billion to $25 billion in Aramco's shares, Bloomberg News reported on Aug 16. Talks started in 2019 and were revived recently after the deal was delayed due to the pandemic. In late June, Reliance's chairman Mukesh Ambani said that he hoped this venture would formalise its partnership with Aramco and that its Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan will join the Indian conglomerate's board as an independent director. Reliance shares were up 2.3% at 2,194.15 rupees. Shares of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited surged more than 2% higher to 2,197 rupees per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Aramco did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Reliance declined to comment.
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Putin Alarmed Over 'Unprecedented' Natural Disasters in Russia

President Vladimir Putin on Aug 14 said the scale of natural disasters that have hit Russia this year is "absolutely unprecedented" as local officials ask for Moscow's help to tackle fires and floods. A former sceptic of man-made climate change, the Russian leader called on authorities to do everything possible to help Siberians affected by the region's gigantic wildfires, as well as Russians living in the flood-hit south of the country. Speaking at a video conference with the leaders of the affected eastern and southern regions, Putin said he received daily reports on the climate situation in the country. "In the south (of Russia), the monthly norm of rainfall now falls in a few hours and in the Far East on the contrary, forest fires in drought conditions are spreading rapidly," Putin said. In Russia's largest and coldest region of Yakutia, this summer's forest fires have already burned through an area larger than Portugal. Russian weather officials and environmentalists have linked the increasing intensity of Siberia's annual fires to climate change. "All of this once again shows how important it is for us to deeply and systematically work on the climate and environment agenda," he said.
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Tesla’s Autopilot System to Be Probed by U.S. Auto Safety Regulator

U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating Tesla Inc.’s advanced driver-assistance system known as Autopilot after a series of crashes at emergency scenes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probe made public Aug 16 is the latest sign that U.S. authorities are beginning to scrutinize driver-assistance technologies more closely after largely giving companies free rein. NHTSA said it had identified 11 crashes since early 2018 in which a Tesla vehicle that had been using Autopilot struck one or more vehicles involved in an emergency-response situation. Four of the crashes NHTSA is probing happened this year and most took place after dark, the agency said. In one such crash in March, the driver of a Tesla Model Y had Autopilot engaged before ploughing into a police vehicle that had stopped along a Lansing, Mich., area highway to investigate a separate crash, Michigan State Police said. The police vehicle had its emergency lights on, police said.
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Strategic

How the world reacted to Taliban takeover of Kabul

Taliban leaders declared “the war is over” in Afghanistan, hours after entering the capital Kabul and shortly after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. The swift pace of the Taliban advance, which came as US and NATO troops continued their near-complete withdrawal, surprised Western governments, who continued on Aug 16 to scramble to evacuate their diplomats, citizens and some local Afghan staff. Meanwhile, Afghans in the country’s capital, from which the Taliban had been deposed 20 years ago, faced an uncertain future as fighters from the group began roaming the streets on Aug 16. So far, the Taliban have promised to maintain stability in the country and avoid further violence, with spokesman Mohammad Naeem telling Al Jazeera the type and form of the new government in Afghanistan will be made clear soon. On Aug 15 night more than 60 nations released a joint statement saying that those in power and authority across the country “bear responsibility — and accountability — for the protection of human life and property and for the immediate restoration of security and civil order”. The statement concludes, “The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity. We in the international community stand ready to assist them.”
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Biden’s Handling of Afghanistan Pullout Draws Bipartisan Criticism

The swift collapse of the Afghanistan government and ensuing chaos is drawing bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill among lawmakers who for months have pushed the Biden administration to do more to evacuate the tens of thousands of at-risk Afghans before beginning to withdraw all troops. The public criticisms spilled out as Mr. Biden’s Democratic allies on Capitol Hill were growing furious that the deteriorating conditions were putting lives and gains for Afghan women at risk, according to one Senate aide, including Sen. Tom Carper (D., Del.), Mr. Biden’s home-state colleague.“Our military presence in Afghanistan should not have continued indefinitely, but the withdrawal of U.S. troops should have been carefully planned to prevent violence and instability, and to ensure that the hard-fought progress gained over the past two decades—particularly when it comes to Afghan women and girls—would not be lost,” Mr. Carper said. “I’m thinking of the immense sacrifices made by our military, our diplomats, and our entire nation.”
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Kabul planes mobbed as Afghans make a desperate dash to exit

Frantic Afghans trying to flee the Taliban takeover clung to an American plane as it prepared to take off from Kabul airport, as thousands of people desperately searched for a flight out of the country on Aug 16. US troops fired shots into the air and all commercial flights were cancelled as chaos broke out on the tarmac. Dramatic footage posted on social media shows hundreds of men running alongside a US Air Force plane as it rolls down the runway, with some clinging to the side of it. In other videos, civilians frantically clamber up an already overcrowded and buckling set of airstairs. Crowds watched on, as those who successfully climbed the stairs helped others up, while some hung from the stair railings by their hands. The US State Department said American troops had secured the perimeter of the airport as they evacuate embassy employees and thousands of Afghans who worked for Washington's interests since they toppled the Taliban in the wake of the Sep 11 attacks. The scenes at the airport were reminiscent of the chaos that enveloped Washington's earlier bungled escape from Vietnam in 1975, even as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected the comparison.
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Uzbekistan forced 46 Afghan military aircraft to land as HUNDREDS of Afghan soldiers attempted to cross border illegally

Hundreds of Afghan military personnel ended up in Uzbekistan over the weekend, after they fled the Taliban offensive, the Uzbek authorities said on Aug 16, adding that they had to “forcibly” land dozens of rogue aircraft. Uzbekistan had to force-land as many as 46 Afghan military aircraft on Aug 14 and Aug 15, the nation’s Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement on Aug 16. A total of 22 military planes and 24 military helicopters were landed at Termez Airport, in southern Uzbekistan, the statement added. Over 700 Afghan soldiers arrived in Uzbekistan – which is located to the north of Afghanistan – on board an aircraft, and 158 soldiers and civilians arrived on foot, having crossed the Amu Darya River separating the two nations, the officials said. Those who arrived on foot have been accused of illegally entering Uzbek territory, RIA news agency reported, citing the Uzbek prosecutors. An Afghan Air Force Embraer 314 aircraft crashed in Uzbekistan, having collided with the Uzbek Air Force MiG-29 fighter sent to escort it to an airfield, the officials confirmed. The pilots of both jets ejected and were hospitalized in a serious condition, according to local medics.
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Turkey drops Kabul airport plans but will assist if Taliban ask -sources

Turkey has dropped plans to take over Kabul airport after NATO's withdrawal from Afghanistan but is ready to provide support if the Taliban request it, two Turkish sources said on Aug 16 amid turmoil following the militant group's victory in Afghanistan.Turkey, which has 600 troops in Afghanistan, had offered to keep them in Kabul to guard and operate the airport after other NATO members pulled out, and was discussing details with Washington and the government of President Ashraf Ghani. The plans were thrown into disarray over the past two days after Ghani fled the country on Aug 15 as the Taliban swept into Kabul and thousands of Afghans, also hoping to escape, thronged the airport on Aug 16. The Taliban had also warned Turkey against keeping soldiers in Afghanistan to run the airport - warnings which Ankara had dismissed before the Islamist militants surged towards the capital. "At the point reached, there is total chaos at Kabul airport. Order has been completely disrupted," said one of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity. "At this stage, the process of Turkish soldiers taking up control of the airport has automatically been dropped," the person added.
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CIA expects no revival of Iran nuclear deal, but Americans warn Israeli officials they won't go to war over it, according to media

The team of CIA Director William Burns is said to have dashed Israeli hopes for US military action against Iran under President Ebrahim Raisi. It comes after the Israeli defense minister reportedly insulted NATO. CIA Director William Burns’ team is said to have dampened Israeli hopes for US military action against Iran under President Ebrahim Raisi. It comes after a reported insult made to NATO by the Israeli defense minister. Burns made his first visit to the Middle East as CIA chief this week. In Israel, Iran was the focus of negotiations with officials. According to Haaretz sources in the Israeli government, members of the Burns delegation told their Israeli counterparts that it was unlikely that the US and Iran would come to an agreement on renewing the US-abandoned 2015 international nuclear deal. And even if Tehran refuses to continue negotiations, “it does not look like the Americans have the intention of responding militarily, and it is unlikely at the moment that there will be such a response,” a source told the newspaper. The Israeli government of new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett maintains the same bellicose stance toward Iran that his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu maintained.
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Lebanon bank boss slams criticism over ending fuel subsidies

Lebanon’s central bank governor has said nobody is running the country, hitting back after government criticism of his decision to halt fuel subsidies that have drained currency reserves. In an interview broadcast on Aug 14, Riad Salameh said the government could resolve the problem quickly by passing the necessary legislation. He denied he had acted alone in declaring an end to the subsidies on Aug 11, and said it was widely known that the decision was coming. “So far you have nobody running the country,” Salameh told Radio Free Lebanon. Lebanon’s army on Aug 14 seized fuel from gas stations to curb hoarding amid crippling shortages. The worsening fuel crisis is part of Lebanon’s wider financial meltdown. Hospitals, bakeries and many businesses are scaling back operations or shutting down as fuel runs dry. Deadly violence flared in fuel lines, protesters blocked roads, and fuel tankers hijacked this week. The American University of Beirut Medical Center said it was threatened with a forced shutdown as early as Aug 16 because of shortages of fuel used to generate electricity. “This means that ventilators and other lifesaving medical devices will cease to operate. Forty adult patients and 15 children living on respirators will die immediately,” the hospital said.
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US will find it hard to realize strategic stability with Russia, Chinese experts say after two defense ministers’ phone talk

After US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu ahead of the latter’s visit to China, experts said the US is trying to stabilize its relationship with Russia to shift its focus to the Asia-Pacific, especially China, but it will be difficult to realize. The call was made on Aug 11 and its purpose was to express support for transparency and risk-reduction efforts following the July 28 resumption of the US-Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue in Geneva, Switzerland, according to a readout released on the website of the US Department of Defense. In a follow-up press conference from the Pentagon, Press Secretary John Kirby was asked about the call but refused to release more details. Russia’s defense ministry said that the two sides held strategic stability consultations and discussed global and regional security issues over the phone, according to Reuters. Neither side said they answered the phone “following an invitation.”
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Malaysia’s political crisis: PM Muhyiddin Yassin finally quits, but question mark over successor remains

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned on Aug 16 after weeks of turmoil in his government, ending a 17-month stint in power during which his legitimacy came under constant scrutiny and amid seething public anger over his handling of the Covid-19 crisis. The 74-year-old’s departure was expected, after a key minister revealed over the weekend that the prime minister would meet the country’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, to tender his resignation and end an impasse triggered by the government’s loss of majority backing in parliament. “His Majesty has agreed to accept Tan Sri Mahiaddin Yassin’s resignation letter,” said a statement by the Comptroller of the Royal Household Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin that used the prime minister’s given name. “Tan Sri Mahiaddin will serve as caretaker Prime Minister until a new Prime Minister is appointed.” The statement said the monarch was against sanctioning fresh polls, citing the severity of the Covid-19 crisis in the country.
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China one step closer to rule of law goals with new five-year blueprint

China has published a new five-year legal development blueprint for the government, as part of a grand national construction plan to become a rule-of-law country by 2035. The new programme, titled “Outline for the Implementation of a Law-Based Government (2021-2025)”, was published jointly by the Communist Party’s Central Committee and the State Council on Aug 11, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua. The outline, together with two similar policy documents issued last December, sets the direction for China in becoming a law-based country with a rule-of-law government and society, a spokesman of the Central Committee’s rule-of-law office was quoted as saying. “This is an important undertaking in our implementation of Xi Jinping’s rule-of-law thinking … and it will have significant demonstration effect in our building of a rule-of-law government, a law-based country and society,” the spokesman said citing the Chinese president, who is also the party’s general secretary. Xi shared his vision of a rule-of-law China at the 19th Communist Party Congress in 2017 and set a 2035 target for achieving the goal.
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Hong Kong protests: As Civil Human Rights Front folds, police and Beijing warn legal troubles far from over

The pro-opposition group behind some of Hong Kong's largest protests announced on Aug 15 it had disbanded, but police vowed to press ahead with investigating it while Beijing said the outfit should not be spared from the legal consequences of its actions.Hours after the 19-year-old Civil Human Rights Front issued a statement on its dissolution, the force said it was following up on the group's breach of the Societies Ordinance.Police had been investigating the legality of the front's operations since April, and authorities said the organisation had not provided requested information about its members, activities and finances within a designated time period."[The front] has been operating illegally," the force said. "Police reiterate that an organisation and its members remain criminally liable for the offence committed, regardless of the disbandment of the organisation or the resignation of its members. The force will continue to go after any organisation or anybody who violates the national security law or other Hong Kong legislation."
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South Korea displays capability to develop nuclear-powered submarines

South Korea has now become a country that operates locally built submarines capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). This could create the basis for the development of nuclear-powered submarines, defense watchers said Aug 15. On Aug 13, the Navy received the country's first 3,000-ton submarine, reportedly equipped with six vertical launch tubes. The commissioning ceremony of the diesel air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarine, the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho ― named after a prominent independence fighter who led education reform and modernization movements during the Japanese colonial occupation ― took place at the Okpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) on Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province. The submarine is the first developed under the Navy's Changbogo-III (KSS-III) Batch-I construction project for 3,000-ton submarines. Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said that although the submarine is diesel-powered, its successful development and high proportion of locally made component parts proved that South Korea has created a basis for building 4,000-ton or 5,000-ton nuclear-powered submarines in the near future.
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Suga borrows from Abe’s playbook in war memorial speech

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga failed to send a strong message in his own words during an annual ceremony to commemorate the nation’s war dead on Aug. 15 by largely repeating what his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, said last year. In his address, Suga mentioned “proactive pacifism.” The term was used by Abe for the first time during his speech at the 2020 memorial in reference to Japan’s readiness to play a larger role in resolving challenges to the global community. Like Abe, Suga did not refer to “lessons” learned from World War II, nor Japan’s responsibility for its wartime aggression in other Asian countries. As prime minister, it was Suga’s first attendance in the government ceremony held in the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward. The annual event is held on Aug. 15, the anniversary of the country’s surrender, with the emperor and empress as well as bereaved families of the war dead also attending. After Emperor Naruhito’s address, the prime minister took the podium to give his speech. After paying respects to the deceased, Suga said, “We will dedicate all our strength to resolve various problems in the world under the banner of proactive pacifism, working with the international community.”
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US-South Korea war games anger North and China

Korea and the U.S. have ignored threats from North Korea and will push ahead with joint military drills next week. The exercises will consist mostly of computerized simulations with no live field training due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The scale of the drills will also be adjusted in consideration of inter-Korean relations, South Korea's ruling Democratic Party said this week.The joint operations reflect wider moves to shore up U.S. international military alliances, after tensions grew over former President Donald Trump's demands for partner countries to contribute more. In March, more than a month after Trump left office, South Korea agreed to pay almost 14% more toward the costs of the 28,500 American troops stationed there. Forces from the two allies this week began preliminary crisis management training that will wrap up on Aug 13. The main exercises that start on Aug 16 are scheduled to run through Aug. 26. The U.S. State Department said Aug 11 that the joint exercises are purely defensive in nature as Washington harbours no hostile intention toward Pyongyang.
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Taiwan seeks to attend US-led summit for democracy

Taiwan aims to attend a summit of the leaders of the world's democracies to be convened by U.S. President Joe Biden as part of his administration's efforts to defend against authoritarian governments such as China, the island's Foreign Ministry said on Aug 12. Regine Chen, deputy director general of the ministry's Department of North American Affairs, told a virtual news briefing that the Taiwan government will continue negotiating with the Biden administration to participate in the summit, scheduled in December. The White House said Aug 11 that Biden will bring together leaders from a diverse group of the world's democracies at the "Summit for Democracy," followed by a second, in-person summit in roughly a year. The themes of the summit, to be held virtually from Dec. 9, will be defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption and promoting respect for human rights, according to the U.S. government.
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Medical

After release, Samsung chief asked to play role as 'special vaccine envoy'

Early this year, the government signed a contract with Moderna for 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, but the U.S. biotech firm halved its planned shipment for this month, citing production problems, causing a major disruption in the government's vaccination schedule. The government and politicians at the country's ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have pinned their hopes on Lee playing a "substantial role" as Samsung Group's drug-manufacturing arm Samsung Biologics signed a deal with Moderna in May to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine. Behind the hope is the expectation President Moon will give a "special pardon" to Lee in the near future. Samsung Biologics will begin manufacturing Moderna's mRNA technology-based COVID-19 vaccine at its Songdo plant, west of Seoul, starting from the end of August. "What the government is expecting from the Samsung chief is to get some of the Moderna vaccine manufactured by Samsung Biologics distributed in Korea. Given Samsung's partnership with Moderna, the government thinks Lee can demonstrate his bargaining power in negotiations with Moderna," a high-ranking government official said Aug 15.
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Workers try to flee Vietnam's biggest city as COVID-19 crisis worsens

Thousands of jobless workers in Vietnam's biggest city are trying to flee to their hometowns, many on motorcycles piled high with belongings, following an extension of restrictions in the epicentre of the country's worst COVID-19 outbreak yet. But authorities are anxious to prevent them leaving Ho Chi Minh City and potentially spreading the virus to other parts of the country. Waves of motorbikes could be seen being halted at roadblocks around the city since Aug 15. Television footage from nearby industrialised provinces showed factory workers on Aug 16 dressed head-to-toe in protective clothing and rushing to board trains and buses in a similar attempt to flee the most affected areas. Authorities with loudspeakers appealed to people to maintain social distancing and return to their homes amid a cacophony of horns and shouting as people tried desperately to leave. Ho Chi Minh City accounts for most of the 6,141 coronavirus deaths and more than 283,000 infections in Vietnam, about a third of which is now under lockdown. The city of 9 million people is seeing on average 241 deaths every day.
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Forget Beating Covid-19. Europe Is Preparing to Live With It

The battle against Covid-19 is shifting into long-term, low-intensity mode in Europe, as countries including Germany, Italy and France go from seeking to end the pandemic to preparing to live with it. Governments are drawing up plans for campaigns of booster shots, mask wearing, frequent testing and limited social-distancing measures to keep the virus in check ahead of the region’s third pandemic winter. They are aided by a public that has proved relatively tolerant of social curbs. Unlike in the U.S., where some states were quick to drop restrictions amid optimism the virus was in retreat, there was never much expectation that the pandemic was over in Europe, where infections have spiked sporadically through spring and summer. Germany, which never fully lifted pandemic restrictions, said this week that only vaccinated people, those who had recovered from an infection or people with a recent negative Covid-19 test would be able to go to restaurants, hospitals and other indoor venues unless infections fall below a very low level. Masks will remain compulsory in closed spaces and on public transport indefinitely, even for the vaccinated.
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WHO to trial malaria, arthritis drugs as COVID treatments

The World Health Organization (WHO) will test three new drugs as potential treatments for people in hospital with severe COVID-19 as it expands its global trial to 52 countries. The three treatments – artesunate, imatinib and infliximab – were selected by an independent expert panel for their potential in reducing the risk of death in hospitalised patients. Artesunate is currently used for severe malaria, imatinib for certain cancers, and infliximab for diseases of the immune system such as Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. “Finding more effective and accessible therapeutics for COVID-19 patients remains a critical need, and WHO is proud to lead this global effort,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. The drugs were donated to the trial by the manufacturers. The WHO completed the first phase of the so-called Solidarity trials last year, working with countries worldwide to find effective treatments for the novel coronavirus and assess their effect on mortality, no matter how small. The new phase of the trial involves 600 hospitals in 52 countries – 16 more than the initial phase – and thousands of patients.
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